Water front for furnaces



May 15, 1928.

J. VRBA WATER FRONT FOR FURNACES Filed Aug. 4. 1926 (E NIY7.

. /llfllfllfll Patented May 15, 1928.

UNITED STATES JAMES VRBA, 0F MARSHALLTOWN, IOWA. i

WATER FRONT FOR kIFURNACES.

Application filed August 4, 1926. Serial No. 127,162.

In modern furnaces for house heating purposes there is sometimes provided at the furnace front at about the level of the grates a hollow `water chamber' communicating with the water intake and` outlet pipes, and so arranged that the heat within the furnace will heat the water desirable for household use. `These water fronts are usually fixed in position and have their inner faces substantially flat vertically and curved hori- Zontally to conform with the contour of the nre box, and fiat atthe top and bottom. With such arrangement in some instances, the water is heated excessively, which is objectionable, and in other instances it is not heated sufficient-ly. Furthermore, said water fronts frequently become cracked or broken due to the excessive heat and to the unequal contraction and expansion of said water fronts.

The objects of my invention are to provide a water front for furnaces of simple, durable and inexpensive construction Vwhich may be formed of cast metal, and which, on account of its shape, may be moved inwardly toward the combustion chamber or outwardly away from it, for the purpose of applying the desired amount of heat to the water under all conditions, and without impairing the efficiency or durability of either the water front on the furnace` when the water front is located in any of its adjusted positions.

A further object is to provide a front of this character so shaped and designed that the possibility of breakage, due to the contractionr and expansion 4caused by excessive heat, is reduced "to a minimum.

A further objectl is to provide improved means for adjustably supporting the water front within the furnace.y

My'invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device,'whereby the objects contemplated are attained, `as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out inmy` claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

i Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a portion `of a furnace with parts broken away to show my improved water front in position. v f

Figure 9. shows a sectional view on the line 2-2 ofFigure 1.

Figure 3 shows `an enlarged sectional view of the water front taken on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 shows a vertical sectional `view taken on the line H of F igure 2.

y Figure 5 shows an enlarged sectional view of the water front taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 1. Y

Figure 6 shows a front elevation of the water front and its adjustable supporting de? vice; and y i Figure 7 shows a sectional view of the same on the line 7 7 of Figure 6.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, i

I have used the reference numeral lOlto indicate generally the furnace, 12 indicates the furnace grate and 13 the `horizontal plate extending from the grate forwardly at substantially the grate level. rWithin the furnace 'there is a fire brick lining 14 of ordm-ary construction, terminatingat the sides of the plate 13.

My improved water front comprises a body portion cast complete in one piece. Viewed from the top it is of segmental shape and conforms substantially with the contour of the inner surface of the fire brick4 lining, as indicated in Figure 2. Its inner face is curved, as shown in Figure 5, from a horizontal central line upwardly and outwardly at l5 and downwardly and outwardly at 16. Its top is rounded at 17 and its bottom portion is also rounded as shown at 18 in Fig- `ure 5, and its front face is substantially fiat as shown at 19. Projecting downwardly from the body of the water front is a rib .20 for the purposes hereinafter made clear. At one end ofthe water front there is a forwardly projected portion 2l "with'scrcw threaded pipe openings 22 therein, and pipes 23 and 24; are screwed into said openings.

At the horizontal central portion of the water front body is an integral.partition 25 extended `from the wal at the end where the openings 22 are formed to a point spaced apart fromthe other end, as shown in Figure 4, so that cold water coming in through the pipe 24 will travel horizontally the full length of the water front until past the partition 25, and will then rise and travel horizontally back again and fiow out through the upper pipe 23.

For supporting the water front, I have provided a base member comprising a ,cast body portion 26 of segmental shape as viewed yfrom the top, and having projected upwardly from its top edge a rib 27 which ext-ends to a point spaced apart from the ends, and at each end is an upwardly projecting lugr 28 spaced rearwardly from the rib 2T. Said parts are so arrangedthat the downwardly extended rib`20 oi thehwater front will stand between the rib 27 and theA lugs 2S, thus preventing forward and rearward movement of the water front relativo to its supportingr base, and providing a supp'ortingbase whereby the water front and base mav be jointly moved forwardly and rearwardly upon the plate 13. In this connection. attention 1is called to the fact that this supporting base, when inuse, stands spaced forwardly from thc rear horizontal central portion of the water front, as clearly shown in Figure :3.

ln practical use, attention is called, to the fact that the water front body may be east complete in a single piece. In applying the device to a furnace, the operator first rests the base 2G upon the plate 13 and t-hen places the water front upon its supporting base. He then inserts the pipes E23 and Q4: in the water front. Then the entire water front, together with its supporting base and water pipes,'may be readily and easily moved and adjusted toward and from the center of the combustion chamber to suit the requirements of each particular furnace installation, or after a furnace has been installed vand it has beenI demonstrated that either too much or too little heat is applied to the water front, the water front may be moved inwardly or outwardly as desired to obtain the proper amount of heat applied to the water front. By having the horizontal central port-ion of the inner face ofthe water front projected inwardly beyond the upper and lower edges thereof, the device particularly adapted to be projected to a considerable distance into the furnace without anydisad'vantageous resuits, because the t`uel or ashes within the furnace cannot, become lodged or accumulated against the top of the water front, as would be' the case it' the inner face of the water front were substantially vertical and the top horizontal.

lflurthermore. there will be no accummulation ol ashes against the lower inner face of the water frontbecausc it is elevated above the grate by the base member Q6, and when ashes are removed 'from the grate, they will also fall away from the lower edge ot the water front, even though some ashes should be lodged against the inner face of the hase member QG. Y

Hence. by` means ot my improved construction. the water front may. ,it desired` be projected into the turn-acc. without any disadvantageousresults. to a greater extent than isl possible with the forms of water fronts now in common use.

Yh'ien it 'determined thatcexcessive heat is being applied to the water liront, then the operator simply moves the entire water trout and supporting;r base forwardly in the fui-nace. and when this is done, and on ac count of thc shape ot' the inner face of the water front, and'its elevated position with relation to the grate on account of the base member :26. ashes and fuel will not become lodged against saidinner face of the water front when the gratos are kept reasonably clean. l i

l have demonstrated in actual practice that by torining a water front ot the shape illustrated and described and without any squa re corners or ends. the unequal contrael tion and expansion, to which these devices are .subjected to when in use, will not tend to break or crack the water front. such as is donc in a large percentage of' instances with water fronts of the type heretofore commonly used.

l claim as my invention: l. A water front for furnaces, comprisin a hollow body portion of substantially segmental shape as viewed from the 'topf` and having its inner face curved so that adja-y cent to its horizontal,center it projects inwardly toward the center ofI the furnace, and its upper and lower edges project out.- wardly away from the center of the fur nace. means for connecting water. circulating pipes to one end otsaid body portion,r a flange extended downwardly from the lower edge oi the body portion, and a base member designed to rest: upon a suitable support and having a contour as viewed from the top corresponding to that of the body portion and havingr an upwardly cxtended'rib and luo's` to grip between them the dowir wardly tended flange ofthc'body portion, and des uned to support the body portion in jmsition spaced above the support on which the base rests and to permit. the rear portion ot the body toY project rearwardly beyond said base. for ythe purposes stated.

A water front device forl furnaces of the class having a substantially flat horizontal water lrout supportingjr plate above the grate. comprising a hollow body portion ot .substantially st :grmental shape as viewed Yfrom the top, and having its inner tace curved 1n such a manner that its horizontal center jn'ojects inwardly toward the centery ot the furnace and its lower 4surface projects downwardly and outwardly andfitsr plate. means for detachably connectingfthe.

base to the water front body portion, the in.- ner lace of said base member being. shaped to extend straight downwardly from thm lower edge of the vater, frontbodyv to therelll) zlU

by prevent the acculnmulaton of ashes upon in any of its adjustedy positions the base member will retain the same position re1ative to the water front, substantiallyas and 10 for the purposes state Des Moines, Iowa, June 9, 1926.

JAMES VRBA. 

